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Eight years ago, I wrote about a strawberry cake I’d been making and tweaking from Martha Stewart since, apparently, 2005 that felt to me like the epitome of early summer. The batter is a simple cake — butter, sugar, flour, eggs, milk. The berries are fresh, hulled and halved. There’s seemingly nothing new or revolutionary but what differentiates it from other summer cakes is the sheer volume of strawberries. There’s a full pound of berries placed on top before you bake the cake, more than easily fit. In the oven, the batter buckles around the berries, turning them into jammy puddles, especially if your strawberries are a touch overripe. The sunken berries dimple the top like a country quilt. The edges of the cake brown and become faintly crisp. If you can bear to wait half to a full day to eat it, and really let those baked berries marry with the cake, you might swear off all other summer desserts.

Clearly, I’m a fan. But I hadn’t expected on a site with many other cakes with fresh fruit in them for it to so quickly take off, ultimately joining the small club of recipes on SK with more than 1000 comments.* The only thing that’s never right about it, however, is the size. A cake like this is here to make friends, and eight wedges never last. For years, if anyone asked about making it in a 9×13 pan, I gave my default answer: double it! For most cakes, this absolutely works. But at home, it was never quite right. The cake was too thick and 2 pounds of berries never fit on top, meaning you’ll use less, and if you use less, the cake is, in my opinion, way less spectacular. I’m not sure why it took me until this summer to get it right, but I finally realized that I was scaling it wrong. The 1.5x yield of batter and berries creates the strawberry summer sheet cake I’ve always needed and finally have. I haven’t made it the original way since, and I thought you deserved an update that was more than a footnote, too.

I’ve reduced the batter effort to one bowl. Delightfully, the baking time for the larger size is a little less while the servings jump to 12 to 16 per cake. The most persnickety thing about the whole cake is arranging the berries on top and for this, but a messy, disorganized collage is the only way to go. If you have berries left when you’re done covering every speck of the cake, nudge them closer, even overlapping them by a little edge. Do not leave berries behind. Strawberries are phenomenal right now and the summer is in full, sultry swing. We need this on repeat.

Strawberry Summer Sheet Cake

This is a light update and scaled-up version of my Strawberry Summer Cake in the archives. In the original version, I suggest up to a 50% flour (here I’d suggest 1 cup) swap of barley flour, if you’ve got it. It’s not like other wholegrain flours, but much more silky and delicate. It has a subtle creamy, nuttiness goes well here.

9 tablespoons (125 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) plus 3 tablespoons (40 grams) granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons (8 ml) vanilla extract

3/4 cup (175 ml) milk, whole is preferred but all varieties have worked

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 pounds (680 grams) of the freshest, even a touch overripe, strawberries, hulled and halved

Heat your oven to 350°F (180°C).

Lightly coat the sides and corners of a 9×13-inch cake pan with butter or nonstick spray, and fit the bottom with a rectangle of parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat butter, salt, and 1 1/2 cups of the granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, yolk, and vanilla and beat until combined. Add milk and mix until (updated) combined; it may look a little curdled but don’t fret, it will smooth out in a minute. Sprinkle baking powder evenly over batter and beat into batter for 20 seconds longer than will seem necessary — this ensures it’s perfectly distributed. Scrape down the bowl. Add flour and beat or stir until just combined.

Spread batter in prepared pan. Arrange strawberries cut side down, as snugly as you can get them to fit. If you have extra, nudge them in anyway. Leave no strawberries behind. Sprinkle with remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar — it will seem like a lot but helps the strawberries get jammy and gives the cake a great texture.

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out free of wet batter (gooey strawberries are a given and doesn’t mean it’s underbaked) — about 45 to 48 minutes. Let cool in pan on a rack. Cut into squares and serve as is, or with lightly sweetened whipped cream, if you’re Deb.

Do ahead: Cake is even better a half- to a full day later, when the strawberries marry with better with the cake. I like to leave the cake uncovered at room temperature so it doesn’t get sticky on top.

318 comments on strawberry summer sheet cake

i used a very similar recipe with fresh farm-grown blackberries. It was life changingly delicious. I wonder if this cake recipe would work for whatever fruit is ripe, i.e., blueberries, raspberries, peaches…

I’ve made this cake a lot!!! So glad you gave bigger proportions!
It’s my favorite summer “go- to” cake!
For people who haven’t made it – please do! You’ll love it- psst- I sometimes swap the strawberries for ollieberries or do a blueberry strawberry combo! Yum!!

Just answered my “what will I make for the 4th of July picnic?” question. But, at the risk of blaspheming the good name of ripe summer strawberries…have you tried with frozen? I have a sad bag of berries left over from a smoothie phase a while back and would love to use them up. Thoughts?

I made this substituting frozen strawberries, since the season is over in Virginia, slightly mashed while semi-frozen which resulted in thick fruit puddles that are delicious. Definitely a different texture than Deb is going for. My Grammy made a nearly identical seasonal cake in a sheet pan with sliced (skin on) peaches. The larger pan with the same amount of batter allows for even more fruit deliciousness!

I made this cake for my then friend, now boyfriend on our first “date”- we’ve been dating for almost 5 months now 😊. I love making it with almond flour. It’s super fragile and crumbly, but DELICIOUS. Thank you for a great recipe (strawberry boy bait?)

Hi, do you sub out all the flour for almond flour or partially? I was skimming the comments looking for exactly this, ie whether anyone has incorporated any almond flour. I love the texture in fruity cakes like this!

I looove this cake and was already planning to double it for a crowd on July 4th, so timing couldn’t be better with your post!
My question: We have an egg allergy in our house, so I usually replace the egg with 1/4 cup applesauce in the smaller recipe and it turns out beautifully. For this new version, I’m not sure how to go about replacing the egg yolk. Should I just use 3/8 cup applesauce to approximate 1.5 eggs? Or does the yolk serve some more important magical purpose, making it problematic to leave out? Thanks!

I made it once with fresh picked black raspberries but we weren’t happy with it. For one thing I didn’t realize how many seeds were in them, and they weren’t a pleasant texture. They cook down and don’t have as good of a bite. Pears and rhubarb both work, though strawberry is still the best fruit for it. This is my favorite thing I’ve made from SK, and the thing I recommend to people the most.

Perfect timing! I had the original bookmarked for this afternoon, and was deciding what to do with my extra berries (they were so cheap at TJs this week). Looks like I’ll have less to worry about now, thanks!

Mmmm, I made this (the original) just yesterday for a debate-watching event! The original recipe worked well in an 8″ square Pyrex. Lots of edges, and it was easy to pass around and self-serve with a small spatula. A perfect very casual summertime cake!

For anyone interested, I’ve made the cake with both whole milk and fat-free milk and noticed no difference, so use whatever you have on hand. Thanks, Deb!

The original is truly a perfect cake. One of my most repeated SK recipes (up there with the cocoa brownies!) and one of my favorite “oh just a little something I whipped up” things to bring to a friend. I love that the data backs up its perfect reputation. Thanks for the update, Deb!

I love food that exists to make friends and this is certainly a good way to go about it. Slab pies are my go to summer pot luck recipe, but I think I’m going to make this next time just to shake things up a bit!

Hi Adrienne. I’m not an expert but I do bake a lot in the Vail Valley. I’d make the original 9-10” variation instead of this new larger cake. I’ve made a lot of small format cakes (like the confetti party cake) without any adjustments because the smaller size gives the center enough time to bake through before the edges burn. And on a side note, for the last couple weeks the Edwards farmers market has had the most amazing strawberries I’ve ever tasted.

Ironically, I just made the original this morning, and I was thinking, man, I wish this made more because it’s so stinking good! Next time…. Thank you for such wonderful recipes, Mom’s Apple Cake is a favorite in our house as well!

I love this cake and have been making it since you first posted it. I always wanted to double it but was afraid to try. This is perfect timing. The only thing that I add is some orange zest, just because I love that combination together. Can’t wait to make it this weekend. 💗

We’ve made this cake (the original version) with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and black raspberries. They’ve all turned out amazing. My mom even makes them in a bread pan sometimes instead of a pie plate. Next up is peaches!

Currently making this with my toddler using the strawberries we picked yesterday! Quick question — can I assume the milk is added along with the egg, yolk, and vanilla? Can’t wait to devour this tonight with freshly whipped cream. Thank you!

Yesssss! The strawberry summer cake is such a huge hit when I make it so this larger version is much appreciated. But I did notice that this version doesn’t contain the barley flour. That is one of the lovely aspects of the smaller version so I would love to add barley flour to this one, too. Since the smaller version uses a mix of half all purpose and half barley flour, can I do the same ratio with this version? Or doesn’t the barley flour work as well with this scale?

I absolutely love the original recipe and am so excited to try this! I have been thinking about doing it with cornmeal (and maybe swapping ricotta for the milk)—do you think the same ratio you suggest for rye flour would work with that? Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes, Deb!

I love the original strawberry summer cake – so happy to see this larger version! Thank you for your continued tinkering. And at the risk of being that person who asks if changing a fundamental part of the recipe will work…I am also that person who is in possession of 25 lbs of peaches from the Georgia peach truck that just came through town, so, apologies, but…will peaches work?

It’s in the oven right now, loaded with peaches and then dotted with blueberries to fill in all the nooks and crannies. I went a little overboard buying fruit at the farmers market recently. I’ve made this so many times with strawberries but our strawberry season was so short this year with all the rain. I can’t imagine it being bad with any kind of fruit!

We went strawberry picking yesterday, and my husband was quite disappointed when the strawberry cake wasn’t also made yesterday afternoon… >:| This is my only go-to strawberry recipe (and clearly a family favorite). We look forward to it every year. Thank you!!

I’ve made the original recipe many times since reading it in your original article. Always with lots of compliments. I wanted to serve this for a big family get together we had in May but knew the smaller size wouldn’t be enough. My lovely daughter-in-law Maria actually made the cake I just prepped the berries. She’s an experienced baker and a real scientist so it was a joy to watch her work. She doubled the recipe except for the sugar (she used 7/8 cup) and we just kept putting on berries until the top was completely covered. The cake was a great success. Maria says she’s made the smaller version at home twice since then.

I have made the original recipe many times. Thanks for this update! I haven’t noticed your recommendation of barley flour before; I’ll have to try that. I have been making the cake substituting some of the APF with buckwheat flour. It makes the cake more silky and nutty, too, and the dark color of the buckwheat against the red berries makes for a dramatic look.

Hi! I love this cake and am excited to have a scaled up version. I notice you are using a metal 9×13 pan. Mine is glass. Do you think that would work? The texture of this cake is so wonderful and my round pan is metal …. so wondering.

I’m currently making this recipe, and I’m well over an hour into the cooking time, and the cake is STILL wet and gooey in the middle. My oventemp is accurate— I’ve tested the temperature. I notice another commenter had this same issue. Your recipes have always worked for me in the past so I wanted to flag this one as presumably containing a problem somewhere. Any thoughts. Sorry my first comment is a complaint— I love your site and recipes!

Perfect. I haven’t been able to keep up with my CSA strawberries (lucky problem) so this recipe was calling my name. Truth be told, I’ve long been loyal to the failproof NYTimes Plum Torte – which I make year-long with whatever fruit is in season – so I almost, almost whipped that up instead. So glad I tried this!
I’ll be making another one tomorrow after picking up my next csa box.

I have made the strawberry summer cake more than once every summer since it was published and I adore it. (You wrote that you hoped it would become our summer cake, too, and for me, it did.) It’s actually the small size that I like. This one also looks terrific but I tend not to bake for a large group and I cannot allow myself to eat most of a cake this size. I’ll scrutinize any other updates, though, and apply as appropriate.

Lately I’ve had more trouble buying barley flour (which I agree adds wonderful texture and flavor) but I’m going to order by mail or trek to a store that sells it, because I’ve made only one strawberry cake so far this year and it wasn’t nearly enough.

Delicious! Eating it now, right out of the oven. The idea of some orange zest, as mentioned by Terry M, sounds like a wonderful addition. Thanks for sharing this, had missed the first version. Also, Mom’s Apple Cake is a big family favorite; I’m sure this cake will be, too.

I thought a “sheet pan cake” meant one of those larger jelly roll pan sized cakes?
In which case…. could I just do the math and get the full doubled recipe to use for that size of a pan? (I have 20 friends and kids coming this weekend. This seems like the solution to the “barbecue down two hallways, around a corner and at least 7 minute walk from my condo, so I’m looking to minimize the kerfuffle in any way that I can.)

Sheet cake usually refers to a half-sheet (13×18) or a quarter-sheet (this, 9×13), but most commonly this, because most people aren’t baking giant bakery pans of cake at home. While the cake is thin, I’m not confident that it’s under-one-inch thin, which would be the usual edge of a sheet pan.

Thank you for this update! I have made this cake so many times that I’ve lost count. It works so well with every type of berry and stone fruit, plus it’s beautiful and absolutely delicious! My personal favorite combination is strawberries and nectarines.

I made this out of curiosity of the simplicity and man oh man it was good. Like *eyes roll back* good. Luckily I had some unloved, overripe strawberries from the clearance area of our produce section and they were heavenly here. I was worried when my batter kinda curdled after adding the milk and even after mixing it forever (says to add milk and mix until smooth); it didn’t seem to matter though because the end result was incredible. Thanks Deb.

I’ll clarify the smooth — it’s totally normal with this one-bowl process for the batter to look a little broken after adding all the liquid at once but of course does fully right itself once the flour goes in.

I just made the smaller one 3 days ago! Perfect for our family my of two, I ate it for breakfast and after dinner. Now I’ve got your rhubarb strawberry crisp bars with oatmeal in my fridge, and yesterday served my book club the delicious strawberry rhubarb crumble (PS I don’t have a deep dish pie pan, made it in a 9 inch share pan…definitely not enough crumble). And, yesterday I made cinnamon sugar scones which are in One Bowl Baking, which you told me about!

Those cinnamon sugar scones from One Bowl Baking are perfect, aren’t they? In our house they’re called Storm Scones. The first time I baked them was a couple of years ago when we were staving off Hurricane Irma cabin fever by baking up a storm. (Also, I was trying to use up all the perishables before the inevitable loss of power. Which ended up lasting about a week, so we were melting in the extreme heat but at least we had plenty of cake)! Anyways, I now bake the scones often and they’re always the Storm Scones 😂 😋

Haven’t made this yet (winter here in New Zealand), but just reading this recipe is making me long for the first berries in Spring. Also curious as to why the baking powder is added separately, rather than whisked into the flour first? I’ve never encountered this method before. Cheers from down under, karen

This looks fantastic! I have a friend who dislikes strawberries (bummer) but was curious if you thought it would work out as a mixed berry cake instead? I was thinking raspberries (which are simply wonderful in baked goods), and potentially blueberries and blackberries. I also plan to sub a GF all purpose flour.

This is one of my absolute favorites! Been making it for years in a bunch of variations for others (using sugar alternatives, completely vegan, and often with raspberries instead). Glad for a sheet cake size update. Thank you!

I actually made the doubled version two days ago! In my experience, it IS possible to squeeze 2 pounds of berries in a 13×9 inch pan if you try hard and believe in yourself. Definitely scale down the batter, though.

This is a lovely mild cake, but every time I make it, I want more brightness. I think it would be great with some lemon zest in the batter, or possibly some lemon juice on the strawberries / replacing a spoonful of the milk? (Not sure how the acidity would affect everything else, though.)

I just stumbled on and made the original recipe a few weeks ago. So delicious, but I thought it could use more strawberries (I actually thought the strawberries ripening in the heat was the best part of the cake). So I doubled the strawberries, putting some in the middle of the cake and layering the batter around it. Gave it to someone as a thank you and of course it got rave reviews! All this is to say, I wholeheartedly agree with increasing the recipe and packing in as many strawberries as possible! Thanks for a simple and yummy seasonal recipe!

Same! Well, an hour and 12 minutes for me, using a glass 9×13 Pyrex dish. I topped with fresh local strawberries and the result was beautiful but it did take quite a bit longer than the time in the recipe (and I made extra sure everything was room temperature before starting).

Ooooh yes! Husband’s 40th next week and although I’m making him the chocolate peanut butter ice box cake for the actual day, his parents are hosting a bbq with his brother and sister and their partners and kids, so this is the perfect cake for that!

It’s my method of making cakes one-bowl. :) In most recipes, you need to whisk or sift the dry ingredients separately, guaranteeing a multiple-bowl cake. The concern is that if you don’t disperse the salt and baking powder/soda well in the flour, you cake won’t come out as well. But salt doesn’t really have to go in with flour, it can go in with the butter, heightening the flavor as soon as possible. If you mix the baking powder/soda very, very well (no harm in “overmixing” it, which we try to avoid with flour), you can put it in sooner. Then you can just add the flour at the end, and not overmix it. Now it’s one-bowl. I use this method in several cakes because I hate washing dishes and I like rethinking recipes to make them work better for us.

I was perplexed by this, because soda-based raising agents start to act as soon as they get wet. Do you not lose some of the rise by adding the raising agent so early in the process? Or do you use an ammonia-based raising agent, which doesn’t act until it reaches a certain heat? I sift flour onto a sheet of paper and shoot it in from there at the end: no extra washing up.
Trying this again with added orange zest – inspired.

I didn’t have a 9”x13” cake pan so I made it in two 9” round pans. I needed a tiny bit more strawberries to cover and it’s probably a bit thinner than the original, but it’s perfect and delicious! And I have two cakes!

Hi Deb. Loving this update! Is it possible to substitute cake flour for all of the AP flour? If yes, how would I properly adjust the baking powder ratio? All of my flour supply was impacted by the King Arthur AP E. Coli recall, so all I have is cake flour and I’m dying to make this today.

Love this recipe and decided to try it with our backyard raspberries. Wanted to let you know that the recipe neglects to indicate when to add the milk. I got to the end and wondered why the mixture was so dry. Fortunately spotted the milk in the ingredient list before I went any further. Thanks for the great recipes!

I just thought I would tell you that I made the original strawberry summer cake with the new method instructions and it works perfectly. I made mine in a 9 inch square baking pan. So easy and fast, plus the buttery cake scented with vanilla is perfect with the jammy strawberries (and how could anyone ever serve this sans whipped cream?). We actually ate our pieces while warm because we could not wait any longer, but look forward to more, especially if it can get better than this!! We both decided this beats strawberry shortcake for sure! Thank you for the recipe.

I covered the cake with plastic wrap and it spent the night in the refrigerator. Then we let it come back to room temperature before having our second slice. Deb is right! Although it was delicious the first day, it was even better on day 2! My husband said it might be his favorite fruit style dessert! Now that is a compliment! Amazingly good! Thanks, again.

I tried this recipe using mostly raspberries, but the consistency didn’t work out well for me – make no mistake, it was well worth the admission ticket as far as delicious goes! Alas, I was in too much of a hurry to try this without reading the comments section. I would have realized other cakes would have worked better. Nice blog by the way, and impressive pictures!
Best wishes from France

Wonderful!
I made it with sour cherry because the strawberry season is over in Romania, but will try the original recipe on the first occasion.
Right now I regret all those years of using classic sponge on the fruit sheet cakes, but hey, live and learn :)
Thank you!

Im for sure trying this out. How long would this keep? I am asking not because I think it will not be eaten quick, but to see if this is an okay option for posting it somewhere. For a 1-2days delivery time maybe?

I have made your original recipe probably a dozen times over the years and it is an absolute favorite! I love the look of surprise on people’s faces when they taste it. I’m glad to finally have a recipe that makes a bigger portion, especially one that will more easily allow for tastes before bringing it to a party. :)

I wish I could have been the one to tell you to increase the portions by 50% for a sheet cake version of this recipe! It’s what I’ve been doing for over a year! It’s the least I could have done for all that you do for us!! LOVE this cake, love you!!

Forgot to add a question to my original post. I want to bring this to a gathering but have to make the day before. It delicious at room temp however I’m assuming that It needs to be refrigerated due to butter, eggs…. What’s the best way to store after it’s cooled. Do you then let it come back to roomtemp?

This cake is beyond delicious. The tartness of the strawberries balances perfectly with the sprinkled sugar top and the tender cake. I shared with my neighbors so as not to inhale the entire cake myself! Thanks so much for what will become a summer strawberry season in my home.

Wondering if browning the butter would work here? I love the browned butter + strawberry taste, but thought I’d first ask if you’d tried it given you are The Queen of browned butter and so might have had a good reason for not using it in this recipe.

Nobody has commented yet here but if you check the original recipe, do a word search in the comments for “gluten,” you’ll find dozens of comments where a gluten-free swap suggestion has been made. I know many people tried it over the years.

I just made this yesterday using King Arthur GF flour blend. I did an exact substitution and kept everything else the same. I had to bake it much longer than 45-48 minutes (not something I usually find with GF baking) but once the center was baked it turned out perfectly!

This was an great recipe. I used peaches that I had frozen fresh from last years palisade peach crop. I added almond extract to the batter as well as the vanilla. I had some extra peaches and made a warm peach sauce to go with it… and of course some whipped cream.

I made this yesterday – really good today :)) I reduced the sugar to 200g because we don’t like really sweet cakes and it seemed a disproportionate amount to beat into the butter. It worked fine, as did using 2 eggs instead of 1 egg yolk, as I already have too many egg whites in the freezer and 1 egg white is no good for anything. This also worked – I reduced the milk a bit. So I’d say it’s a pretty flexible recipe – just what I like! THanks Deb!!

Hi Deb,
i have become very frustrated with the I’m not a robot box. If I want to share a recipe it makes me go through the mechanism literally almost 10 times. Has something changed? Is this to deter us from sharing? It just becomes such a hassle that it isn’t worth it. Thanks.

Of course you post this after strawberry season is over in the south. I could have used this a month ago ;) Ah well, guess I’ll have to try and remember for next year. Probably good that I don’t have one more thing to bake on my plate since its now blueberry season and I’ve been subbing in bluebs for rasberrys in your rasberry buttermilk cake recipe. I’ve made it multiple times in the past couple weeks. Its been a hit with neighbors.

I made this cake this weekend and it was delicious. My family loved it and I received rave reviews from friends as well. It almost tastes like strawberry shortcake in a way plus it is more portable for picnics. Oh, and a thank you for the note about the curdling with the milk addition, I saw mine and panicked before I read the next line:) Thank you!

I made this over the weekend and it was FANTASTIC! I used lemon paste in place of half the vanilla in the cake. It added a subtle lemon flavor but I think it could have used even more. I also used buttermilk, which gave a slight tang to the cake. I loved the way the strawberries get a little soggy and almost caramelized. This will definitely be made again and again! The cake is so moist and delicious, especially with these small changes.

Made this for a weekend party. I used strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. It was wonderful! My friends loved it and it was relatively easy to make. I loved the colors (red-white-blue is a popular combination in Washington DC suburbs, the Sunday before July 4!).
Thanks for another great recipe, Deb!

Thanks for doing the math for me for this sized-up version :-). This cake is always a summer favorite, and it was no different today. Although I have to admit I reduced the sugar to 230 g in the dough and thought it was still a touch sweet. Maybe my European taste buds.

I have made this cake with replacement of flour with l/3 cup polenta for a Summer Solstice Party two years in a row. Most people love it. They are still thinking about it weeks and months later. This year I ran into a friend two days later and she said I cannot get that strawberry cake out of my mind. It is that good.

I’ve been making this cake for eight years?! Where does the time go? We love it with the barley flour swap, but we have some folks in our house who can no longer eat gluten. We’re working on a possible sub for the flours. If anyone else has success, please let us know.

Nobody has commented yet here but if you check the original recipe, do a word search in the comments for “gluten,” you’ll find dozens of comments where a gluten-free swap suggestion has been made. I know many people tried it over the years.

Thank you thank you thank you for providing Metric measurements . Volume measurements in baking are so imprecise. Then there are questions like ‘I’d they say half a pint, is it a North American 16 ounce pint or an Imperial 20 ounce pint?’ A Canadian living in France, I have a set of cups and teaspoons, but so much prefer my little electronic scale in grams and ml. I appreciate being able to use your recipes without having to do calculations. Merci.

Has anyone tried making this gluten-free? Could I use gluten-free flour plus the barley flour? Am making the sheet cake, but need to make another dessert for gluten-free family members and thought I could make the original version but gluten free?

Nobody has commented yet here but if you check the original recipe, do a word search in the comments for “gluten,” you’ll find dozens of comments where a gluten-free swap suggestion has been made. I know many people tried it over the years.

Thanks, Deb – I could not figure out how to search the comments, and tried scrolling through as far as I could. I only found comments asking how to make gluten free, etc., but no suggestions. I’m not too comfortable with gluten-free baking, so not sure what I will do!!

A few of the comments:
“I used earth balance, egg replacer, almond milk, and my favorite all-purpose gluten free flour mix (from the book Free for All Cooking).”
“we used gluten free flour and can I tell you it was still absolutely divine”
“I just wanted to let everyone know that I made this with King Arthur brand Gluten-Free flour and it worked very well. I didn’t change any of the measurements, just did an exact substitution.”
“Gluten-free success! I made this with Bob’s Red Mill One for One flour and it knocked everyone’s socks off.”
“I make it with a gluten-free flour called Cup 4 Cup; the ingredients are the same, but I find it needs an additional 8-10 minutes baking — rather than 50-60 min (after the initial 10), I usually end up at about 68-70 min.”

With this cake there’s no reason to EVER make typical strawberry shortcake! Perfect for feeding a crowd. I made this cake using the smaller version recipe and baked in a 9.5” square springform pan. I added lemon zest and some raw almond meal to the batter (for freshness and a bit of texture) and also used “sour milk” (added lemon juice to a mix of unsweetened almond milk and heavy cream). Instead of white sugar on top, try crystal sugar for a nice crunch and a bit of sparkle. Yum!

LOVE this recipe! I replaced one cup of flour with almond flour, used almond extract instead of vanilla, added a few raspberries in with the strawberries, and only sprinkled on tbsp of sugar on top. And shut the front door! My favorite new dessert. I don’t even care for sweets. But this is sooooo good!

Just made this a few hours ago and it’s already gone! I didn’t have strawberries on hand but I did have fresh peaches, so I swapped (and I did use the version with the cup of barley flour, too). It did take a bit longer in the oven, but this is a fabulous recipe.

I made the Strawberry Summer Sheet Cake to share with family, and it was a hit! I took home an empty plate. I am going to make it again using peaches as someone suggested. Thank you for another delicious and easy recipe.

I’ve made the buttermilk raspberry cake before, so I knew I’d love this. Used dark sweet cherries instead of strawberries and obsessively lined them up, which made for fun servings (just one cherry, 1×2,
2×2, etc). The cherries are quite sweet so I reduced sugar to 1 1/4 cups (probably could have cut it even a bit more) and forgot to sprinkle the extra on top. Replaced about a third of the flour with white whole wheat. Added some lemon juice to the milk. Replaced vanilla (I am out) with double the quantity of bourbon (great combo). Thank you for a cake that is so endlessly riff-able! My friends were talking about raspberries and peaches, and all the other ways this would be delicious.

I made this today with blueberries, strawberries and raspberries in an american flag pattern. Also mixed a couple dollops of greek yogurt into the milk for tang and richness. Total hit at the block party- came back with an empty pan

I made this on Wednesday for 4th of July yesterday. It was a big hit. I used strawberries that were not as sweet as I would have liked, but the extra sugar on top really helps make it delicious.
My husband just asked me to make another one for him to take to work Monday for someone’s going-away party.
Thanks, Deb!

Well, I’ve gone and done it! “From experience” I can now say that this recipe totally rocked. And might I share a tidbit, that is a kissing cousin to your having changed ratios from your first iterations when you discovered this recipe? I followed your recipe to the letter regarding weights/measurements. So how could I make this in an 8 inch square pan? I divided your recipe exactly in half, and then added 10% more of each ingredient. It did take me a while to draft your recipe for my preferred pan size, but was this ever worth it. Let me tell you, this was a stunner. The juices from the berries did marry into the cake as you’ve stated, and created such a rich mouthfeel, regardless of the prudent amount of butter. Thank you Deb…..sincerely. This was eaten last night with whipped cream, and this morning with black coffee. YUM!

I made this with apricots that had been soaked in apricot brandy and I used a bit more butter to finish off the stick and oh lord was it good! We took it to a potluck and after trying a piece my husband snuck it back out to the car so nobody would finish it. When I got back to the car and found it on my seat my husband looked at me and said, “Oh please. You can’t tell me that anyone in there deserves a cake this good.”

Wow! This is summer personified. I made it for a friend’s casual birthday get-together and it was devoured (except for one piece that her daughter declared the best breakfast ever). I’ll make this again and again.

I made two of these for the 4th – one regular and one gluten-free (with Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 flour). Both were absolutely fabulous!! I served with freshly whipped cream, and everyone asked for the recipes!!!! Thank you!!!

I made this for the 4th and it was delicious. I used blueberries and halved, pitted, fresh cherries and it was amazing. I also used King Arthur’s Cup for Cup gluten free flour. It was a huge success. Thanks Deb for such a great recipe!

I skipped the small version of this for my first time around and went straight for the big batch! This is a really simple recipe but the cake looks really impressive, so great to bring to parties. I’m so glad the recipe noted that the mixture would look curdled after adding the milk – it really looked like something had gone horribly wrong but it looked beautiful after adding the flour.

A quick note – I seriously bunched those strawberries together on the top so there was hardly any cake sticking through at the top, making it hard to gauge if it was “golden brown” at the end. I let it bake for about 10-15 minutes longer than suggested looking for some golden hint, but I bet the cake was actually done earlier since the bottom ended up browner than I would like.

I would love to try this with barley flour as suggested, since the cake is just slightly too sweet for me – it almost tastes like an angel food cake. It could use something vaguely nutty or savory (in my opinion) to counteract all of the sugar, so the suggestion of an alternative flour to include is great.

This cake is amazing! I made it for my July 4 BBQ (using one corner of the cake for blueberries to get that American flag look) and it was DEVOURED. I was initially concerned that there was too little cake batter, but honestly, that’s what made it so good — that it was mostly strawberries! (I would have used more than 680 g if I didn’t sub in blueberries.) Thanks for the update!

I made this exactly as written, the night before I needed it for a casual outdoor dinner — so it got to sit for a day, unrefrigerated, for the flavors to meld. It was completely devoured and I got a lot of compliments. Excellent recipe, very easy to make. Will definitely make it again, it was superb! Thanks for making me look so talented and clever!

My colleague bought a pound of berries at the Farmer’s Market sponsored by our employer. I told her about this recipe that I wanted to try and she promptly donated her berries so I could make the cake. I made it when I got home from work and resisted tasting until I brought it to the office the next day. Oh delicious! Oh for more berries! Oh for whipped cream! Thanks for this gem!

Some variables in my version but still came out great – 2/3 strawberries and 1/3 sliced peaches; mix of white and whole wheat flour; 1/4 cup less sugar – – delicious results! Looking forward to experimenting different variations of this cake. Thank you, Deb!

This cake was everything and more than I hope for when I made it. I brought it to work so I did not have whipped cream to serve with it but I will next time I bake it. Rave reviews all around and not too sweet. Freshly picked berries did not hurt.

wow! Excellent cake. Because we are only two, I made the original smaller version. Spectacular flavour and great way to use local sweet strawberries (already made Jam, strawberry shortcakes and tarts so needed something else for remaining fruit!). Tastes like summer on a plate!

I made this recipe as written and it was delicious! Used a 9×13 glass baking dish, buttered but without parchment paper. The cake took a little longer than expected to bake – closer to one hour before the center tested done. So easy to put this together. As noted, the most time consuming part was prepping the strawberries. Served this with lemon whipped cream (beat heavy cream to soft peaks, then folded in prepared lemon curd). Will definitely make this again.

This was amazing! Last year we planted our own strawberry patch and this year we got to enjoy the fruits of our labor (ha)! Unfortunately the season is just about over and the heat/humidity and my lack of proper strawberry patch maintenance means I had a bunch of strawberries that I needed to use up ASAP before they went the way of the ones I hadn’t plucked in a few days (what can I say…life with kids). Any who-this was the best representation of summer in a cake I’ve ever had. My three year old licked the crumbs off his plate (we made it for breakfast). I have a couple varieties-big juicy Jewels and teeny tiny Arctic strawberries which have a distinct burst of flavor that was enhanced by the baking! I’m going to jazz it up with some whipped sweetened ricotta and nasturtiums that are just blooming all over in my garden. Thank you so much for this, it’s a keeper!

This cake has been the delight of the season! This cake to me…is perfect! Refreshing and only a little sweet…I’ve made two back to back upon request…whipped cream is a nice addition. We’ve been eating it both for dessert and breakfast! We recently moved into our first summer at our cottage and this recipe is sure to be a summer staple. THANK YOU!

I just made this for my sister’s birthday today. It’s in the oven and my house smells AAAHMAZING! We were out late last night and I made strawberry shortcakes at midnight for the birthday, but the description of your cake kept popping into my head and made me change my mind. We’re going to be a little late to meet them this morning, but I don’t think anyone will mind.

OMG, yes. I cannot believe this, Comment #248, is the first mention of my mistake — I forgot to say softened or room temperature butter (which will be soft enough to beat). Thanks for the heads up. Now fixed.

I’ve made the original version of this cake several times – my sister says it’s her favorite cake and asks for it at least twice a summer! I have to admit, despite her glowing review, it always seems a bit dry to me. Any suggestions for making it a bit more moist? Thanks Deb!

Thanks! I loved the original (despite forgetting the sugar on top, d’oh) and will definitely give this a try. My first go was an attempt to deal with an overly-excited, ridiculous strawberry purchase, but I’ll go for it on purpose this time.

I made this with my 4 year old niece and she couldn’t have had a better first baking experience. She told everyone we served it to about how she put the strawberries on top (if you want to fit a lot on there, get a 4 year old to do it). Such a great recipe!

This looks amazing! I’m going to try to make it gluten-free as my husband has celiac, and I can’t wait to give it a go! I love ALL your recipes. I’ve skimmed the comments but couldn’t find anything in reference to gluten-free other than almond flour. I like to use Bob Red Mill’s 1-1 flour. I’ll report back! :)

This cake is so delicious. I’ve now made this TWICE this week – in the oven, despite it being 100 degrees outside. Totally worth it! We like to eat this with macerated strawberries. So yummy. Tastes like butter cake with strawberries!!

Since I wasnt a baker in 2011, I made the smaller version first yesterday. Can i just say, my husband declared that he had Never. Had. Anything. Like. This. Before!
I did sub out 1/4 cup (31g) plain flour for 1/4 cup (28g) almond flour, plus (because i do this always) added a heaped tbsp of sour cream and a small squeeze of lemon juice. My strawberries did neatly sink all the way to the bottom though, sigh. I think I figured out why that happens. If you don’t squeeze the top chock full of them, like properly, the batter buckling will overpower them and push em all down. I prepped the full lb of berries but in the end couldnt somehow put them all in (10inch deep pie), but i think i coulda/shoulda tried harder and really squeezed them in. When the batter bubbled up, it faced not enough resistance from, and found enough gaps in, the berries and pushed em all down. (I have an annoying habit of camping out in front of my oven and watching my cakes cook -think time lapse videos..without the time lapse).

Made this for my book club and it was a big hit. I wish I’d heeded your advice and left it uncovered overnight (I made it the day before) but I was worried it would attract hungry family members. As a result, it was a little sticky/overly moist on top, but it was still delicious! Would absolutely make again – simple and unpretentious but still absolutely delicious.

Found! They are in the original recipe. Here are some highlights for others wondering the same thing:
Some baked at 350 for 10 minutes then 325 for 40 min (another said 25-30 worked for them).
The original recipe yielded 12 cupcakes (or muffins depending on the time of day) with some leftover which was baked in a loaf pan.
People tried various methods of incorporating the strawberries. Two examples are mixing into the batter OR topping with 2 strawberry halves and then packing in diced berries around those. 2 year old birthday part this weekend, I’ll report back.

Hello Deb! I have to say this cake is incredible! I made the last version yesterday and I can’t stop eating it. I was wondering why you hull the strawberries ? I thought it was time consuming, so is there a reason for the hulling? Thanks a bunch!

I made this and it was delicious! Perfect for a summer picnic. I served it right out of the pan. Thank you for mentioning that the batter would look “broken”, otherwise I would have been worried. I just used all-purpose flour.

My family love strawberry cake so much, so i tried it today by this way, i have added some green tea because i love tea too, but the taste would be better if i did not add tea into it. I will try your method totally the same next time.

I made the sheet cake version a couple of days ago. Deb, I know you usually don’t like things too sweet–with 1 1/2 cups of sugar in the main batter, this cake was VERY sweet, and I think that muted the strawberry flavor. How much do you think I could cut back on the sugar without ruining the cake’s structure?

I made this to take into the office and it went down a storm. I was grateful for the part of the recipe that tells you not to worry about the mix looking curdled because honestly mine looked absolutely terrible at one stage!

I don’t bake, working on the theory that I live by myself and it would be down to me to eat a whole cake……….good but not good!
However, I was due to visit a friend who has just had twins and I saw your recipe in Cup of Jo. It got my attention and with some trepidation I made it with plums. I checked it after 50 mins by which time it was very very brown. I fretted about it for a day, was going to make another one as I’d decided that I couldn’t offer it as it was probably horrible. In the end I sliced into it and it was lovely, the plums were all squidgy and the cake was liight, with a good crumb and crunchy edges. I took it to my friends and everybody enjoyed, I aim to make it again…………I think I will always be nervous about baking, (my amazing sister makes wedding cakes for friends for heavens sake!!) but I was sooooo pleased with the end result.

If you blink where I live strawberry season is gone. Can still get them of course from distant places, but the whole point of this cake is the incomparable seasonal fruit. So….what if I use blueberries instead? They have a longer season so the goodness of local, seasonal bounty can be captured.

Delicious! Made it last night with some berries I had frozen from earlier in the summer (Marionberries , loganberries, tayberries, obsidianberries, boysenberries, and raspberries). Thawed them out, drained the juice, added to top of cake. You were right, it’s far better the next day. Will be making again with strawberries:)

Absolutely delicious! I made this for my toddler’s birthday and she loved it. I added the zest of a lemon to the sugar and massaged it, before following the recipe to a T. It didn’t taste all that lemony but did brighten up the strawberry flavour. Served it with whipped cream sweetened with a tablespoon of maple syrup. Will most definitely make it again!

Have made this twice now since the recipe appeared. Both times it turned out wonderfully and was a big hit! It is definitely even more delicious after sitting for a day. The first time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly (including barley flour, which I was thrilled to find out is not an expensive alternative!). The second time I cut the sugar back to 1/2C and used KA’s Fiori di Sicilia (citrus flavored extract) in place of the vanilla. I wanted to use lemon or orange zest but had neither on hand. The citrus addition was lovely! I will definitely experiment with zests next time. The reduction in sugar was almost not sweet enough. I wouldn’t be so drastic next time. It was still scrumptious, and made it more of a breakfast appropriate cake. With full sugar, it’s more of a decadent, dessert-at-a-summer-potluck treat. I liked it both ways and intend to make it all summer long!

A simple lemon glaze might be good on this. Otherwise, maybe cream cheese frosting or meringue (toasted with a blowtorch/the grill setting in your oven)? I think buttercream would be much too rich and would overpower the cake. Simply covering the cake in whipped cream would be good too.

This is in the oven right now (for the third time since you published this). I made it with a ridiculous amount of plums and blackberries, so it’s taking a while for the center to bake (soooo much plum juice), but it’s going to be delicious! Thank you Deb, everyone at my dojo (food doesn’t have calories if you eat it right after an hour and a half of grappling, right?)really appreciates all of your recipes!

So I was cooking at a friend’s house and there was no vanilla extract but — surprise, surprise — there *was* almond extract and I used that instead.
What a happy accident! It was AMAZING.
I’m going to try this with cherries too.

I tried it with cherries because my extended family grows them commercially. It didn’t taste bad by any means, but they didn’t go jammy even though I put them cut side up. I think it’s because the skin is far thicker.

I just made this but used coconut oil instead of butter and replaced half the flour with almond flour in a half-hearted attempt to make it healthier. It worked well and was fairly crumbly. Though, I think I would use butter next time.

Oh, and I halved the total recipe because there’s only two of us and I would devour the whole thing way too quickly.

I love this strawberry cake, especially with the barley flour substitution.

I recently purchased stainless steel cake and loaf pans from Amazon. The stainless steel loaf pans were the Norpro 3849 and the 8” square stainless steel cake pans were also Norpro.

Tonight, I combined the summer strawberry sheet cake version with the original 9-inch round cake pan summer strawberry cake version.

I filled two of the 8” square cake pans and only had barely enough for to cover 80% of one of the loaf pans.

I guess I should have just doubled the sheet cake version?

I was wondering if you could tell us how thick of a layer of cake batter should be used, regardless of the size and shape of the pan. I know stainless steel isn’t doesn’t conduct heat as well as aluminum, but for health reasons, I won’t use aluminum or non-stick Teflon pans. Trying stainless steel, despite the bad review of such pans by Rose Levy Berenbaum—or some other cake cook book author. Your recipe was a success on the first try. Thumbs up. You made a great recipe and I can’t wait to try the lemon yogurt blueberry cake.

Please advise on how to adjust for different size, shape and material of baking pans.

One last thought: how about making recipes with a little more batter for a small sample cake for the chef? So she doesn’t have to cut into and eat the cake she is bringing to the party. So that she and her kiddo can enjoy pre-party samples to make sure the cakes taste ok.

hi, i am making this for tomorrow’s galentine’s night. there are five of us and i have and 8″ square pan. i also have a 9×13″ glass pan. not sure if i should make the smaller version and if so, will and 8″ work? or should i go for the larger size? would an 8″ feed five comfortably or even work?

I was looking forward to this cake and followed the recipe, but all I ended up with was a slightly dry cake with cooked strawberries on top– not bad, but definitely none of the promised deliciousness. I added the sugar on top, but now I wonder if maybe I should have added more… Any suggestions?

You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but
I find this topic to be actually something which I think I would never understand.
It seems too complex and very broad for me. I’m looking
forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the
hang of it!

I made this cake exactly as directed and it was quite good. I think when I make it again, I will jazz up the cake batter with a big hit of orange zest. Also, it might be fun to swap out the granulated sugar on the top with some coarse turbinado sugar for a bit of texture.

I’ve made this twice in the last week – we love it! Our garden strawberries are really coming in. Tomorrow I’m going to make is several times more and wrap it for the freezer. That’s worked wonderfully for your three-berry bundt cake – I expect this one to freeze just as well!

Looking back at the recipe I did use more strawberries than called for and did not remove the cores. (I just sliced off the tops and cut them in half.) I weighed out a pound and a half after prepping them, so maybe this resulted in extra liquid. (They were very juicy/overripe berries too.) All is okay because it tastes delicious. (Added 1/2 tsp of ground ginger and zest of one lemon. Can’t detect the ginger, but the lemon zest a little brightness to the flavor.)